Electrical timer outlet



Jan. 27, 1953 A. o. sx-:ELER ErAL 2,626,660

ELECTRICAL TIMER OUTLET Filed April 2l, 1950 le/moy Patented Jan. 27,1953 ELECTRICAL TIMER OUTLET' v, Alfred O. Seelen Irvington, andLawrenccGehrig,

Montclair, N. J

Y ApplicationAprilf 21, 1950, Serial No. 157,196

(Cl. ll- 1).

This invention relates' toelectrical timer outletsand more especiallyIto such outlets as are suitablefor operating orturning oif the operationof electrical appliances of various kinds such as televisionand radiosets.

An object of our linvention is to provide an electrical timer control ofthe type referred to which is simple in construction and inexpensive incost and' which in great degree utilizes conventional-parts in a novelarrangement. The foregoing and other objects are accomplished inaccordance with our present invention by our novel electrical timeroutlet having in combination, a timingr mechanism, means external saidmechanism for actuating the latter, these same means also serving toactuate an electrical switch after a predetermined period of time, theentire assembly being connected electrically to a television or radioset, or other electrical device, whereby operation of the electricaldevices is automatically controlled.

A specific embodiment of ourinvention is described herein by way ofexample only and in accordance with the manner in whichl we now preferto practice the invention, the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings in which like numbersrepresent like parts throughout and which form a part hereof, beingintended for the purpose of illustration.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational View of our timer outlet;

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of our timer outlet with the rear of' casingopen to expose the parts, the timer outlet being shown under tension andpart of the springv being broken away to expose parts underneath;

Fig; 3 is similar to Fig. except that'the parts are shown after thetimer has become untensionedV and the electric switch has been actuated;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged View of the winding pinion showing it looselyplaced' around the square top shaft;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of the winding clutch which nts over andengages'the winding pinion;

Fig. 6V is a section taken along the line 6-6 of Fig. 3.

Fig. '7` is a side elevation of the part shown in Fig. 5; and

Fig. 8 is a side'elevation of the pinion or gear of Fig. 4.

Referring to the draw-ings, our timer outlet Il! is contained in acasing II into which is secured in known manner an electrical receptacleor socket I2. Terminal; I3r is at allftimes'ineleetrlcal contact withsplit contact I5 but is in electrical contact with binding post I6 onlywhen switch I8 touches the split contact l5. Terminal I4 is at all timesin contact with binding post I'I, The binding posts are connected by theusual electrical wire IS terminating in a conventional plug 2D forinsertion in a receptacle or socket (not shown).

The switch I8 is urged by spring means (not shown) to its normalposition against or in contact with split contact I5. Working againstthe spring is an insulated push rod 2I whichis adapted to cause theswitch I8 to move away from contact I5 when rod 2I is moved left-ward(as viewed in the drawings) The timing mechanism 22 comprises aconventional watch lmovement (details not shown) having a center wheelbut no main spring. To the center wheel is iixedly mounted a shaft 23the other or external end 24 of which is squared (Fig. 4). Looselyplaced over the external end of the shaft 23 is a sleeve gear or windingpinion 25 provided with spur teeth 26 along its outer and lowerperiphery and with ratchet teeth 21 along its'inner and upper periphery.Above the sleeve gear is a winding clutch 28 having ratchet teeth 29corresponding to and meshing with those of the sleeve gear 25.. Theclutch 28 has a square central hole corresponding to the sc uare end 24of the shaft 23. In order to prevent the parts from coming loose intransit or in operation a flat spring 3f! is provided asa stop guide.

In order to set the aforesaid timing mechanism inl operation and also toactuate theelectrical switch, we provide the following means. Locatedlon the-iront of the outlet I!! is a'time scale 43 and a. movable timingindicator 3|. Located within the casing I I is a crank 32 responsive inmovement to the movement of the timing indicator 3l. One arm 33 of thecrank 32 extends through opening 34 of one end of plunger bar 35. Thisbar 35 has a channel 38 and is movable along guide screws 3l back andforth (from right to left and vice-versa, in the drawings) As shown inFig. 3, when the switch I8 is not in contact with the split contact I5the plunger 35 bears against the push rod 2I. Also, under suchconditions the teeth 38 of the plunger 35 are not in contact with thespur teeth 26 of the sleeve gear 25. When the plunger 35 is moved to theright (Fig. 2) by setting timing indicator 3l to any position other thanoff the plunger teeth 38 and gear teeth 26 are in contact.

It will be noted from the foregoing that when the timing indicator isset as aforesaid the timing mechanism is not affected in any way by theparts described because the gear 25 is merely a sleeve around shaft 23and does not rotatably engage it. This is true in spite of the fact thatthe ratchet teeth of winding clutch 28 would engage the correspondingteeth of gear 25 during leftward travel of the plunger 35 and in sodoing also would rotatably engage shaft 23.

All that needs to be done however to set the timing mechanism intooperation is to provide a spring 39 (shown broken away) which urges theplunger 35 to move leftward and in so doing places the aforesaid geartrain and shaft 23 in operation. The spring 39 is anchored at one end 4Bof the plunger 35 and to bracket l suitably secured, as to the timingmechanism casing 42.

In operation, our timer outlet is simply connected to an appliance suchas a radio which it is desired to place into operation for a certainperiod by placing the plug of the latter into socket l2. The outlettimer plug 20 is inserted into a source of current and the timingindicator 3l is set for the desired period, as indicated by the scaled3. The plunger 35 is urged leftward by the force exerted by spring 99,this force causing gear 25 to move in a clockwise direction (in theembodiment shown) In moving in this direction the gear 25 causes clutch28 to move along with it, as the ratchet teeth 2l, 29 of the gear andclutch, respectively engage each other operably in this direction. Sincethe clutch opening rotatably engages shaft top 2li the timing mechanismis consequently put into operation and remains in operation as long asthe spring 39 exerts its force and as ong as the plunger and gear teethare in mesh.

However, just at the predetermined time while the spring 39 still exertsits aforesaid force urging the plunger 35 leftward, the last of theplunger teeth 38 passes out of mesh with gear spur teeth At this instantthe bar 35, being free of operative contact with the timing mechanism,is immediately urged leftward unimpeded and 'pushes rod 2| to the left,causing the switch i8 to break the electrical contact, thereby turningthe radio off automatically.

While we have described our invention in detail in its preferredembodiment, it will be obvious `appended 'claims to cover all Suchmodifications and'changes. Thus, we do not wish tobe'limited to anyparticular kind of timing mechanism vor electrical switch. Furthermore,while we have -described an embodiment in which our timer outlet permitsthe operation of an electrical device for a pre-determined period oftime and then automatically causes it to cease operation, we contemplatethe use of our timer outlet in these cases when it is intendedtostart'operation of an electrical device after a desired period. Thiscould be done by modifying the arrangement of the switch in our outlettimer so that it normally keeps the circuit open and closes it when'actuated by the plunger, for example, by placing the switch to theright of and normally out of contact with the split contact I andcausing contact of the switch and split contact i5 to occur when theplunger pushes rod 2i to the left.

The timer outlet can also be modified so as to actuate a switch afterlong or short periods,

,4 for example, by varying the number of teeth on the gear and/orplunger.

We claim:

1. An article of manufacture, which comprises, in combination, a clockescapement having a shaft, a pinion rotatable on said shaft and having aset of spur teeth on its periphery and a set of ratchet teeth on oneface thereof, a rack bar engageable with said spur teeth of saidpinion,a clutch member rotatable with said shaft and having ratchet teethmeshing with said ratchet teeth of said pinion, and yieldable means fordriving said rack bar.

2. An article of manufacture, which comprises, in combination, a clockescapement having a shaft, a pinion rotatable on said shaft and having aset of spur teeth on its periphery and a set of ratchet teeth on oneface thereof, a rack bar engageable with said spur teeth of said pinion,a clutch member rotatable with said shaft and having ratchet teethmeshing with said ratchet teeth of said pinion, yieldable means fordriving said rack bar, and an electric switch actuated by said bar.

8. An article of manufacture, which comprises, in combination, a timingescapement having a shaft, a pinion rotatable on said shaft and having aset of spur teeth on its periphery and a set of ratchet teeth on oneface thereof, a longitudinally-movable rack bar having spur teeth alongpart of its length and engageable with said spur teeth of said pinion, aclutch member rotatable with said shaft and having ratchet teeth meshingwith said ratchet teeth of said pinion, and an expansion spring fordriving said bar.

4. An article of manufacture, which comprises, in combination, a timingescapement having a shaft, a pinion rotatable on said shaft and having aset of spur teeth on its periphery and a set of ratchet teeth on oneface thereof, a longitudinally-movable rack bar having spur teeth alongpart of its length and engageable With said spur teeth of said pinion, aclutch member rotatable with said shaft and having ratchet teeth meshingwith said ratchet teeth of said pinion, an eX- pansion spring fordriving said bar, and an electric switch actuated by said bar.

5. An article of manufacture, which comprises, in combination, a timingescapement having a shaft, a pinion rotatable on said shaft and having aset of spur teeth on its periphery and a set of ratchet teeth on oneface thereof, a longitudinally-movable rack bar having spur teeth alongpart cf its length and engageable with said spur teethof said pinion, aclutch member rotatable with said shaft and having ratchet teeth meshingwith saidratchet teeth of said pinion, an expansion spring for drivingsaid bar, and an electric switch actuatedby said bar pushing it.

ALFRED O. SEELER.

LAWRENCE GEI-IRIG.

REFERENCES CTED The following references are of record in the le of thispatent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,337,680 Williams et al Apr. 20,1920 1,606,656 Michael Nov. 9, 1926 1,866,808 Ireland July l2, 19322,986,950 Shelton July 13, 1937 2,266,014 Erickson Dec. 16, 19412,434,470 Rhodes Jan. 13, 1948 2,492,063 Quilter Dec 20, 1949

